Limpopo, LETABA 1 district, Modjadjiskloof, Duivelskloof 436 LT, Zoutpansberg Skirmishers Route memorial _2

18 May 2015 4 images

View Slideshow

Cemetery information:- Henry Harbord MORANT aka Breaker was involved in the following incident: Capt. PF Hunt was in charge of Fort Edward, with Morant as second-in-charge. It was later testified at the court-martial of Morant that Hunt gave strict orders not to bring in any prisoners. Hunt decided to act against Field Cornet Willem Hendrik Viljoen and his two sons, Field Cornet Barend Christiaan Viljoen and Jacobus Johannes (Jacob) Viljoen, who operated effectively in the Devil's Kloof area, causing the British forces problems. Sgt. Frank Eland (a member of the BVC, who had a farm in the area) was one of the fourteen men who accompanied Hunt. Some 200 black locals, from the tribe of Modjadji, also went with the company, heavily armed with assegaais, sticks, pistols and elephant rifles. Kitchener apparently did not approve the use of armed blacks against the Boer forces, but the BVC (Bushveld Carbineers) made their own rules. There were only 15 Boers staying overnight in Eland's farm house when Hunt and his party attacked them. The armed blacks fled when the shooting began. During the skirmish both Hunt and Eland were killed, whilst the Viljoen brothers were both also killed. When the rest of the party tried to attack the farmhouse again the next morning, they found only two dead Boers inside - Jacob Viljoen and G Hartzenberg, having been left behind by the fleeing Boer soldiers. Outside the bodies of Hunt and Eland lay, both stripped and mutilated, as was the body of Viljoen. It was later determided that both Hunt's and Viljoen's bodies were mutilated by black witchdoctors who arrived soon after the fight ended to remove body parts for ritualistic black magic medicine, known as "muti". A black messenger informed Morant at Fort Edward of the outcome of the fight, and Morant, Witton, Picton and Handcock arrived in Devil's Kloof the next day with 70 men, intent on revenging the deaths of Hunt and Eland, and the mutilation of Hunt's body, which he believed was done by the Boer soldiers. (source: https://breakermorant.yolasite.com/) VILJOEN Barend -1901 For the gravesite of the Viljoen brothers, see Limpopo, LETABA 1 district, Modjadjiskloof, Duivelskloof 436 LT, farm cemetery _1. Album complete. eGGSA captions by: Riana le Roux The GGSA Cemetery DVD only has information on the cemetery location. Cemetery ID: 3463 Google Earth Cemetery Initiative Information:- GPSID: 6416 GPS: -23 39.462, 30 10.358